A Conversation With Solo Artist and Former Newsboys Lead Singer Peter Furler (Part 1)

Bonham: Did the creative flow stop at all during your time away from
the music industry?

Furler: I laid it down for a while--probably six or eight months which
is a heck of a long time for me. I was so habitually used to (writing). It
was like I had (a guitar) attached to my back and I was always writing on
the road. I picked up painting. I had a creative outlet there, so I wasn't
sitting around kind of bored and twiddling my thumbs. And then in that
process, about six or eight months later, after doing some painting and
photography, I was approached by Steve Taylor. We've written over a
hundred songs together for the Newsboys. He knew I had a bunch of stuff
left over, stuff that hadn't made it on to other records. So he came and
said, "What are you going to do with it?" And I said, "I don't know? What
do you want to do?" He goes, "Maybe we should do something" and I said,
"Well I'll do something as long as I don't have to sing because I don't
want to do a solo record. If you sing, we'll do it." So he goes, "Okay."
We went in the studio and put a band together. It was Jimmy Abegg on
guitar, John Painter on bass, myself just as the drummer and Steve as the
lead singer. We made a record. It's not out yet. It's brilliant. It's a
fantastic record and it's hopefully coming out this year or early next
year. It got put on hold because of Steve (directing) the Blue Like Jazz
movie.

That really kind of got my creative juices going again, to be honest,
because we didn't have any record deal, we didn't have any management or
anything. It was just four guys in a room making music they all liked. It
was thrilling. It was really energetic and a lot of fun. I was just back
on the drums doing what I did when I started playing music. I was the
drummer and background singer like I was when the Newsboys started. That
kind of got me fired up a bit.

Bonham: Does the band have a name yet?

Furler: At the moment it doesn't have a name (laughs). We went through
a bunch of scenarios and then we figured it was probably best for it to be
a Steve Taylor record. So it's Steve Taylor and Some Other Band.

Bonham: You referenced some guys that are heroes of mine. John Painter.
I mean, Fleming & John is one of the greatest bands that never made it
big.

Furler: Yeah, definitely.

Bonham: That must have been a thrill. You talk about Jimmy Abegg. Those
guys are all fantastic musicians and writers in their own right. How much
fun was that for you?

Furler: It was definitely the highlight, maybe, of my recording career
so far. Yeah, I would say so. John is a monster at everything. He's got
great taste. I kind of felt like I was standing on his shoulders or maybe
it was more like I was polishing his shoes. Jimmy's been a good friend of
mine for 15 years. We've been talking about doing something together for
15 years but obviously with my schedule it was impossible to have a moment
to do that. Steve has been one of my best mates for years and someone who
has helped me in every way. I've been encouraging him to make a new record
for years. So it was just the four of us in the room. It was electric. It
was just four guys in a room. We didn't even have an engineer. John did
the engineering. So it was just four guys, counting in and the drum kit
facing Steve and Jimmy's on my left and John's on my right and it doesn't
get any better than that.

Bonham: You don't need an engineer with that group. John's proven
himself to be a recording genius in the past.

Furler: Definitely. John took up the brunt of the work. He was miking
the drums and getting the sounds. And even Jimmy, Jimmy's a purist. He
would turn up with a 1960s SG (microphone) and a Princeton amp. I don't
think he even had an effects pedal with a battery that worked.

Bonham: Your relationship with Steve Taylor has always been interesting
to observe. Here's this guy who was a pioneer of the Christian alternative
rock movement and the Newsboys were this fun, pop-rock thing that didn't
always get taken seriously. It probably took some fans and critics a while
to understand the collaborative effort that was taking place between two
musical camps that might have seemed very different on paper. But that's
been a very special relationship, hasn't it?

Furler: Things never would have been the same without that. It's been
one of those defining moments in my life--meeting Steve, writing with Steve
and working with Steve. It's a perfect fit. I've got parts of me that are
jagged and he's got parts of him that are jagged and we come together to
make something that's right. It's like a jigsaw. We're completely
different in some ways but I think we really like each other and we both
realize what we do for each other. So it's been a good thing both ways. I
don't know what else to say but it's been a perfect situation

Bonham: You've got to be pretty excited to see what's happening for
Steve with the Blue Like Jazz movie.

Furler: Absolutely. It put an end to the recording process for a season
with Steve taking on the movie, but man, we were rooting for him. We
wanted to get the word out. We got the news that he'd raised the money
through the Kickstarter program while we were in the studio. You couldn't
have found three happier guys.